It has a maximum length of 350 statute miles (560 km; 300 nmi) and maximum breadth of 160 statute miles (257 km; 139 nmi). The rocks of Lake Superior's northern shore date back to the early history of the earth. Enter your email address and select which Free Newsletters you'd like to receive. Thanks for the note! Had a name change in 2009, though many people still know it by the Sears tower. Shore of Lake Superior near the mouth of the Mosquito River in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Upper Peninsula, Michigan, U.S. Get exclusive access to content from our 1768 First Edition with your subscription. [7][8][9] Lake Superior contains 2,900 cubic miles (12,100 km³) of water. Notable production includes gold from the Hemlo mine near Marathon, copper from the Keweenaw Peninsula and the Mamainse Point Formation, iron from the Gogebic Range, silver at Silver Islet, and uranium at Theano Point. Lake Superior has as much water as the rest of the Great Lakes combined – plus three more Lake Eries. [43] This is because of the unusually cold water, under 36 °F (2 °C) on average around 1970. [25] This would be a significant departure from historical records as, according to Hubert Lamb, Samuel Champlain reported ice along the shores of Lake Superior in June 1608. During the nine-month period of October 1925 to June 1926, water levels ranged from 1.58 feet (0.48 m) to 0.33 feet (0.10 m) below Chart Datum. Tweets by @lakesuperiormag !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)? In addition, many fish species have been either intentionally or accidentally introduced to Lake Superior: Atlantic salmon, brown trout, carp, chinook salmon, coho salmon, freshwater drum, pink salmon, rainbow smelt, rainbow trout, round goby, ruffe, sea lamprey and white perch. The average underwater visibility of Lake Superior is about 8 metres or 27 feet, making it the cleanest and clearest of the Great Lakes. [36], The Anishinaabe People, which includes the Ojibwe or Chippewa, have inhabited the Lake Superior region for over five hundred years and were preceded by the Dakota, Fox, Menominee, Nipigon, Noquet and Gros Ventres.
Wreckage of SS Cyprus—a 420-foot (130 m) ore carrier that sank on October 11, 1907, during a Lake Superior storm in 77 fathoms (460 ft or 140 m) of water—was located in August 2007. I wake up every morning looking out at Lake Superior, Justin L Segner [citation needed] The water surface's slow reaction to temperature changes, seasonally ranging between 32 and 55 °F (0–13 °C) around 1970,[30] helps to moderate surrounding air temperatures in the summer (cooler with frequent sea breeze formations) and winter, and creates lake effect snow in colder months. The regulating structure is known as the Compensating Works and is operated according to a regulation plan known as Plan 1977-A. This article will tell you all about Lake Superior's volcanic past: http://www.lakesuperior.com/the-lake/natural-world/243-lake-superior-basin-fiery-beginning/, Lake Superior Magazine Lake Superior empties into Lake Huron via the St. Marys River and the Soo Locks.
[citation needed] This variation in temperature makes the lake seasonally stratigraphic. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). They were Algonkian people who hunted, fished and gathered berries. Indeed. [48], As for other Great Lakes fish, populations have also been affected by the accidental or intentional introduction of foreign species such as the sea lamprey and Eurasian ruffe. The Caspian Sea, while larger than Lake Superior in both surface area and volume, is brackish; though presently isolated, prehistorically the Caspian has been repeatedly connected to and then isolated from the Mediterranean via the Black Sea. It's so many times smaller that, no, it's not designated a Great Lake. Although Lake Baikal in Russia has a larger volume of water, the combined area of the Great Lakes—some 94,250 square miles (244,106 square kilometres)—represents…, …a fascinating history, as Lakes Superior and Huron were vast synclinal depressions even in Precambrian times. Glacial meltwaters gathered in the Superior basin creating Lake Minong, a precursor to Lake Superior. 12. Evidence of this culture can be found at the eastern and western ends of the Canadian shore.
[23], According to a study by professors at the University of Minnesota Duluth, Lake Superior may have warmed faster than its surrounding area. Lava erupted from the rift and formed the black basalt rock of Michipicoten Island, Black Bay Peninsula, and St. Ignace Island. When you purchase our Nautical Charts App, you get all the great marine chart app features like fishing spots, along with LAKE SUPERIOR marine chart. Omissions? I believe they have the maximum depth wrong. The Ojibwe name for the lake is gichi-gami (pronounced gitchi-gami or kitchi-gami in different dialects),[13] meaning "great sea." Lake Superior Nautical Wood Map 16 X 20. Built in Lorain, Ohio, Cyprus was launched August 17, 1907, and was lost on her second voyage hauling iron ore from Superior, Wisconsin, to Buffalo, New York, with the lone survivor among her 23 crew being Charles G. [45], More than 80 species of fish have been found in Lake Superior. Corrections? The land contours familiar today were carved by the advance and retreat of the ice sheet. Help! Keep up with the magazine, news and happenings around the Big Lake. The French Jesuit missionary Claude-Jean Allouez circumnavigated and charted the lake in 1667. Education & Learning Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote the name as "Gitche Gumee" in the poem The Song of Hiawatha, as did Gordon Lightfoot in his song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." Less winter ice cover allows more solar radiation to penetrate and warm the water. Valuable mineral deposits surround the lake. Another culture known as the Terminal Woodland Indians (c. AD 900–1650) has been found.